On March 25, 2025, police officers in Montgomery County, Texas, arrested 19-year-old Michael Wenzel and charged him with possession with intent to distribute between 28 grams and 200 grams of Alprazolam, the generic name for Xanax.
Wenzel pled guilty in Montgomery County District Court to a lesser offense of possession of a controlled substance on April 17, 2025, and he received a sentence of 120 days in the county jail.
At the time of the plea, no testing had been performed on the pills tied to Wenzel’s arrest and plea.
On June 5, 2025, the state notified Wenzel that a crime laboratory had tested the pills and found them to be Buspirone. Like Alprazolam, Buspirone is a prescription anti-anxiety medicine, but it is not a controlled substance under Texas law.
On January 30, 2026, Wenzel filed a state petition for a writ of habeas corpus. On February 27, 2026, a Montgomery County judge recommended the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals grant the writ. The appeals court granted the writ on April 30, 2026, ruling that Wenzel’s plea was involuntary because, at the time he entered the plea, he was not aware that the substance he possessed was not a controlled substance.
The state dismissed the case on July 2, 2026.
– Ken Otterbourg
Posting Date: 08-05-2026
